Developing highly active, supported catalysts is of continued and growing interest. Supported catalyst systems can aid in reducing air pollution from power plants, refineries, and other chemical processing plants in addition to being useful in many other industrial applications. Supported catalyst systems can also be designed to reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from operations such as, for example, printers, dry cleaners, paint shops, and plastic-mold shops.
Supported catalyst materials can be used for a variety of chemical transformations, such as, for example, in hydrodesulfurization, hydrogenation, methanation, methanol synthesis, ammonia synthesis, carbon monoxide oxidation, and various petrochemical processes. Moreover, expensive catalysts, such Pd or Pt based catalysts can be supported such that the catalyst can be recycled.
It can be desirable to apply a catalyst to a substrate to enhance dispersion of the supported catalyst. The substrate can function, for example, as a form factor for the catalyst during operation. Current methods to apply catalysts onto supports and substrates, however, can be limited by incompatibilities (e.g. a lack of bonding capability) between the catalyst material and the substrate. Such methods for manufacturing supported catalysts can also ultimately lead to a loss of catalyst dispersion and/or a loss of catalytic activity.
There is a need to address the aforementioned problems and other shortcomings associated with traditional catalyst materials and methods.